


Secrets and Lies

by Fabulanon



Series: Young Warrior [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alien Character(s), Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Exile, F/F, F/M, Family, Gen, Kidnapping, Non-Graphic Torture, Original Alien Species - Freeform, Original Mythology, Original planet, Secrets, Superpowers, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 02:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16630847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabulanon/pseuds/Fabulanon
Summary: The team is in shock. Nicole (If that is her real name), who spent the past year in their loving care, has turned on them. They have to fight, and come closer to death than ever before, as they're trying to figure out her evil plans. Who is she? What does she want? And why is she here?But while they are desperately searching for answers, an old enemy returns as well, and all hell breaks loose. War breaks out, and the team has to fight for it's life against a known, and an unknown enemy, while the questions and secrets keep piling up. How will they get out...?





	1. The 084

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! I just wanted to make sure that you know, that this is part 4 of my "book". If you've missed parts 1, 2 and 3: please read those first, especially part 1, since it will introduce some of the original main characters.
> 
> The full story is also posted separately. However, since it's practically 4 different stories, all morphed into 1, I decided that I could also upload it as separate stories, since, even though they might reference the events that happened in different parts, you can read the separate parts apart from each other. All parts kind of have another genre as well, so maybe it's better this way.
> 
> Little side note: I am thinking of writing a fifth part as well, but that's a work in progress.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz and Simmons work on a strange alien staff with weird properties. It leaves a bigger mark on them than they could realize.

_6 months later…_

The door opened, and Fitz and Simmons walked through the door of Coulson’s office. “You wanted to see us?” Simmons asked. He looked up at them and gestured for them to sit down. He then stood up, and opened a secret vault under the table, before picking up a strange object with a piece of cloth and putting it carefully on the table.  
“Hopefully I don’t have to emphasize that everything I am about to tell you is strictly classified?”  
“No of course not!”             
The object was a little wooden staff, about as long as your lower arm. The wood was glossy and pitch-black, but beautifully decorated with symbols carved all around it. “This 084 was found a couple of days ago, not far from here. At first it didn’t seem like much, until some resident found it, and tried to pick it up. I advise you two to only pick it up using the cloth, that poor man still hasn’t recovered from the burns.”                 
“And you want us to, what, figure out what it is?” Fitz asked.    
“Exactly. And find a cure for those burns. For some reason, they won’t heal.”      
“Understood. Is there anything else we need to know?”            
“There’s nothing more we _do_ know.”              
“We’ll get to it then.”

They were standing in a private lab, trying everything they could to monitor the strange object, with computers and machines hooked up to it.     
“There are markings on it… What do you think they mean?”    
“I don’t know, we’ll first need to figure out what language it is, and somehow, I don’t think there’s a dictionary for it…”               
Simmons walked over to the screens and examined the data. She let out a little gasp.       
“Look at this Fitz! It’s… it’s like it’s alive…” Simmons said, fascinated. He came in to look. “That’s strange, how could that be? That’s impossible.” He looked at the monitors, confused, as Simmons walked back to the table, holding her hand just above the object, but she quickly pulled it away again. “It’s… vibrating?” she brought her hand closer to the object again, the closer it got, the more it started to vibrate, and for some reason even she didn’t understand, she couldn’t resist picking it up. She was mesmerized by the object and moved her hand even closer. Fitz turned around just in time to see it. “No! Jemma! Stop!” He screamed, but he was too late. She had already picked it up. Fitz rushed over to her, ready to pull the thing from her hands, but then he noticed that she didn’t get burned. Instead, the marking just glowed, like a fire was burning inside of it. They just looked on in awe. “It doesn’t burn you?” He asked, confused. But Simmons didn’t respond. She just looked at the object, like she was in a trance. “Jemma…?” Fitz asked carefully, clearly concerned. He pulled the thing from her hand using the cloth, and put it back on the table, before turning around to her and holding her face with both hands. “Jemma!” It was like she awoke from a trance. “Fitz?” She moved her hand to her head. “I think I need to sit down for a moment, that was freaky…” They sat down.    
“Jemma? What happened? Are you all right?”             
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just feel tired and have a slight headache. Yet, somehow, I don’t think it was going to hurt me.”               
“Well it certainly looked like it was hurting you! Why the hell did you pick that thing up? Do you remember the last time that Nikki did that with the last 084?”     
“Yeah, I do. And I wasn’t planning on this, it just happened… It called out to me… like it was trying to somehow… communicate with me. Though in a way that I didn’t understand… I felt it. I wondered before if this thing might be alive, but I actually felt it.”           
“Well. What did you feel then?”       
“I’m not sure. Yet, somehow, it felt familiar. Safe. Trusted… It was like I recognised it… and _it_ recognised me.”        
“Either way, maybe it’s a good idea to just leave it for now. Maybe you just got lucky, let’s not touch it again okay? I don’t want to see you getting hurt by some weird alien virus again.” He kissed her forehead.                
They quickly cleared out he room, reported back to Coulson, and hid the object somewhere secure. They would check in on it again the next day, but for now, it looked like Simmons needed to rest. They moved to Fitz’s room, to relax a little, completely unaware that the 084 had now awakened a new threat…


	2. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikki kidnappes Fitz-Simmons, and they worry that they might not get out alive...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will deal with torture. It's not very excessive or graphic, but you have been warned.

After the exhausting events of today, Fitz and Simmons were sitting in Fitz’ room, Fitz’ arm around Simmons, and they were discussing the crazy things that had happened to them, the past week alone. Simmons was still exhausted, but she looked better than right after she'd touched the staff. She rested her head on Fitz' shoulder, while he was softly stroking her hair.  
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked concerned.  
"I am now." She said, and she looked up at him.  
They both leaned in closer, and shared a warm, sweet kiss. Fitz wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Slightly startled, they broke the kiss, and looked at the door. “Come in.” Fitz called out, slightly confused, as they weren’t expecting any company. Nikki opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind her. “Oh, hello Nikki.” Simmons said, smiling. “Is there anything we can help you with?” Nikki didn’t move. She just stayed there, in front of the door, blocking it. “Yeah, I was just wondering where you two were all day? Some secret mission? Was it fun?” Fitz raised an eyebrow. “Come on Nick, you know we can’t talk about that sort of stuff. It’s classified.” Nikki still didn’t move away from the door but kept smiling. “You were working on an 084, weren’t you? Let me guess, some weird wooden staff with strange symbols, which glowed when you picked it up?” Fitz pulled back his arm from Simmons and sat up straight. “W- wait. How did you know that?” Something was wrong. And Nikki was still blocking the door, still smiling. Fitz stood up, pulling Simmons from the couch, and behind him, shielding her. Nikki reached for something behind her and pulled out a gun. Fitz’s eyes widened. “Whoa, wait, Nikki, what are you doing? Just… just think about this okay? Put down the gun, and we can talk this through. No one needs to get hurt. Please...” Nikki smile got even wider. “Don’t worry. It’s just an ICER. And this is nothing personal.” She pointed it towards them. “Nikki, wait.” Simmons pleaded. “We’re friends, right? What do you-” But her sentence was cut short by the muffled shot of the ICER, and Fitz fell to the ground. Seconds later, there was another shot, and everything went black.

When she woke up, she couldn’t see anything. It took a moment for her to find out why, but then she noticed that she was in a basement. Her hands were tied behind her back to some pipes, and her feet were duct-taped together. In front of her, she saw Fitz, also tied up.      
“Good. You’re awake.” He said. “Are you okay?”         
“Yeah, I’m fine. But, where are we?”              
“I don’t know. Some sort of basement?”        
“I figured out that much myself, thank you very much. But where’s Nikki?”          
“I don’t know. Maybe she just left us here.”  
But right as he said that, the door opened, and Nikki walked through. Fitz felt a wave of anger when he saw that she was still smiling. “Hey guys!” She said like this was the most normal thing in the world. “I’m awfully sorry about this, but it was the best I could think of on short notice. And like I said, it’s nothing personal.”              
“Let us go, right now, Nikki!” Fitz said angrily. “I thought we were friends. Why are you doing this?”                 
“Oh. We ARE friends. And I don’t wanna hurt you. But I just need to ask you a few questions. Questions that, unfortunately, I’m afraid you would never answer out of free will.”              
A strange look went over her eyes as she looked at Simmons. They had never seen it before, but they immediately felt uneasy because of it. It wasn’t so much evil, or dark. But sadistic and psychopathic. Fitz shot a quick panicked look at Simmons, and then back to Nikki. “Please, whatever you’re going to do, hurt me, leave Jemma alone.” But this time Simmons spoke. “Fitz, you don’t have to protect me. And she’s not going to hurt us. I don’t buy it. She’s bluffing.” Nikki slowly walked over to Simmons, who was looking at her defiantly, and knelt beside her. “I wouldn’t bet on it, Jemma. Don’t test me. You might regret it.” Simmons looked back at her. She tried to look calm and determined, but the look in her eyes gave her away. “Do your worst.” She said. Fitz tugged on his restraints, and tried to get up, but he was tied down too tight. “If you touch her, I’ll kill you!” He yelled at Nikki. She stood up and turned her attention to him. “I’d like to see you try. I’m practically immortal. Sure, there are ways to kill me, but I don’t feel like telling you those...” “Wait, you’re immortal?” Fitz asked, surprised, and confused, but Nikki didn’t elaborate, and just addressed both again. “Don’t you at least want to know what I want? Maybe it’s not so bad, you give me an answer, I let you go, and I’ll be on my way. No one needs to get hurt, end of story.”              
“Fine, what do you want?”                
“So glad you asked, Leopold! See, like I asked before: You were working on an 084, right? A little wooden staff that didn’t seem to do anything, yet when Jemma touched it, it lit up, but only her.”    
“Wait. You know why that is? What is that thing?”      
“Don’t worry too much about that okay? You just have to know that I want it. So, if you could just tell me where you left it, I can go and collect it.”        
“So, it’s a weapon then? You wouldn’t avoid the question like that if it wasn’t. What do you need a weapon for?” Fitz asked.    
“Because it’s mine, and I just want it back. All you need to know is that it had been in my possession for a long time, before I lost it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. stole it. I just want it back, and once I have it, I’ll let you go. Simple as that.”    
“Well. You’re in a bit of trouble then because we’re never going to tell you where that thing is.” Simmons said.        
She was trying to sound brave, but anyone could tell that she was terrified. And Nikki knew this. “Fine. You know what? I’m going to give you a moment to discuss, I’ll be back shortly. Don’t worry, I won’t be long. Hopefully you’ll have changed your mind by the time I get back.” And with that said, she left the room.

Fitz and Simmons were alone again, and Simmons dropped her brave face. “Fitz. I’m scared.” She said quietly. “Why does this always happen to us? I don’t want to go through this again, I can’t.” Tears were welling up in her eyes.        
“Hey, Jemma. It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’d like to see her try.” He said comforting.                 
“Let’s not wait for that, though. Is there anything around you that you can cut those ties with?”    
She felt around in the dark, but her hands were tied down too tight. She could barely move them, and she could see Fitz struggling with the same problem.  
“Jemma, I don’t think there is a way out… Not unless we take the one she gives us.”          
She looked up in surprise. “What are you saying? Just telling her where that weapon is? Fitz, we’ve gone through this before, and the next thing we knew, Hive was on this planet. We cannot be selfish like that again!”    
“Jemma…” He said when he realised what she was saying, “that’s out of the question. You saw the look on her face, we both know what she’s going to do…”  
Simmons looked up at the ceiling. “Well, I’m just gonna have to accept it. I’m strong, I can take it. I have to.”          
“But Jemma.” Fitz’ voice was almost inaudible, “Even if you can, I don’t think I will be able to do the same. That’s the reason this keeps happening, I’m just not strong enough to see you get hurt.”  
“You have to Fitz. Promise me. Leave me with one less thing to worry about, please.”       
“I can’t…-”             
“But you have to. I forbid you to tell her where that thing is. No matter what she does, no matter how much she hurts me, do not tell her, please. Look away if you have to. Just close your eyes. I won’t blame you for that.”        
A silence fell over the room. “Fitz, I’m scared. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want you to die, but we can’t be selfish. We have to keep that thing hidden, or everyone we love, all our friends will get hurt as well… Please… just let her kill me.” But Fitz just closed his eyes and avoided the pleading look that Simmons gave him before he fell silent.

And then, they heard footsteps outside the door, and a key turning in the lock. Nikki walked in, carrying a gun that she laid down on a table that was standing against the wall. “That should have been enough time to think. So, have you decided? Are you going to help me, or are you going to make this difficult?” She first looked at Simmons.            
“Never.”                
“Pity. What about you, Leopold?”    
He hesitated, tears welling up in his eyes. “No, Fitz!” Simmons screamed. “You can’t!” But Nikki had already walked up to her, and taped her mouth shut. “I know where you stand Jemma, but let’s allow Leopold to make his own decision okay?” She had said it with another sadistic smile. Fitz had closed his eyes, but he was trembling, and it was clear that he was close to breaking down. Nikki folded her arms over each other. “You disappoint me guys. I had so hoped that I wouldn’t have to do this.” She picked up the gun and loaded it very demonstratively. Fitz was now breathing heavily, and looked back to Simmons, who was pulling on her restraints as hard as she could to try and break free, as muffled screams came from her taped mouth. It was clear that she was panicking, though at this point, it was hard to tell if it was because of Nikki, or to convince Fitz to stay quiet. “Please. Leave her alone! I don’t care if you hurt me but leave her alone!” he pleaded. Nikki aimed the gun at Simmons. “NOOOO!” Fitz shouted, as she carelessly fired the gun once. Simmons let out a scream as the bullet entered her leg, and her jeans coloured red with blood. She closed her eyes firmly, breathing heavily, trying to resist the pain. Fitz panicked, as he tugged on the restraints, trying to break free. “Please, don’t do this!” He cried.      
“Then tell me where the 084 is!”      
She fired again, this time aiming for her abdomen. Simmons let out another scream, as she started to bleed out. Fast. “Please. Just… just give me some time to think.” Fitz begged. Nikki raised her eyebrows. “Think? That’s what you want to do? Don’t you want to save her? You have to THINK about it?” She let out a little laugh. “Woah, Jemma, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t love you. That must hurt more than those bullets, doesn’t it?” She said tauntingly. But Simmons didn’t seem to care. At this point, she had stopped resisting, as she was clearly growing weaker due to the blood loss. Nikki walked over to her and put the barrel to her head. Simmons closed her eyes. “Well in that case, I’m going to give you one more chance Leo. If you don’t care about her getting hurt, maybe this will convince you.” Her finger was on the trigger, and she pushed it down slightly. After that she knew that she had won. Fitz stopped tugging on his restraints, and lowered his head, crying. “No, please. Don’t kill her. Spare Jemma, I’ll do anything.” He said quietly. Tears were rolling down over Simmons’ face. She was weak but shot one last pleading look to Fitz. He ignored her. “Please. Just let her go, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll tell you where that dammed thing is. But please, let Jemma live.” Nikki lowered the gun.     
“Tell me then.”     
“It’s in the base. Coulson didn’t want to store it away until we knew what it was, so we locked in his office, there’s a secret vault under de table!”           
Nikki put the gun back to Simmons’ head.      
“You’d better not be lying.”               
“NO! I’m not! It’s there, I swear!”     
Nikki lowered the gun again.             
“Alright then.” She walked up to Fitz. “I will go there now to collect my prize. But if you are lying” She knelt down before him and grabbed him by the throat. “I will make sure that both your death’s will be slow and painful, you understand?” Fitz nodded quickly. “This is your last chance to change your answer. Are you sure that that’s where I will find the 084?”     
“Yes, I swear.”       
She left the room again.

Simmons looked up at Fitz, her eyes were filled with disappointment and betrayal, but he couldn’t bear to look at her. “I wasn’t just going to let her kill you. I couldn’t. I’m so sorry Jemma... I love you.” But then she closed her eyes, and passed out.


	3. Desperate hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The base is in chaos. Nikki gets caught, and Fitz takes some long due revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will deal with a similar kind of torture than the last.

But Nikki didn’t return. Fitz and Simmons just sat there, as she slowly bled out, and time passed on. Fitz had tried to call out to Simmons a couple of times but couldn’t get a response anymore. He feared for the worst. He kept moving his wrists, sometimes tugging on the restraints forcefully, and other times trying to carefully move free. He needed to get out, if only to stop the bleeding, and keep Jemma alive just a little while longer. Or to just hold, and comfort her... But he was unsuccessful, and only managed to cut himself on the ties.

After what felt like forever, he could hear voices and footsteps on the floor above him. He was cautious at first, until he realised that they didn’t belong to Nikki. “Down here!” he screamed out, trying to get the attention of whomever was up there. A couple of moments later, light flooded into the room, and agent May walked in, her gun raised. But then she saw Fitz and Simmons and lowered it again, quickly running over to Simmons. “Simmons. SIMMONS! Talk to me. It’s me, agent May.” But she didn’t get a response. “COULSON!” she shouted. “They’re down here! We need medical! Right now!” “Is she alive?” Fitz begged. She quickly tried to find a pulse and found that it was very weak. “Barely.”

The rest went quickly. Fitz and Simmons were cut loose, and Simmons was brought to the medical bay. And then, Fitz was sitting in the Zephyr, as they flew back to the base. “How did you find us?” He asked quietly. It just didn’t make sense. Apparently, they had been in an entirely different country, thousands of miles from the base. How had Nikki brought them there? “The alarm went off.” Coulson answered. “We found Nikki trying to break into the safe in my office. Whatever kind of plans she had, she didn’t work them out very well…”

 _A couple of hours earlier…_  
_Nikki was in Coulson’s office. She wanted to look for the safe when suddenly an alarm went off. She quickly looked around and saw that she had triggered a motion sensor. “Shit…” She cursed quietly. She hesitated for a moment, but then ignored the alarm, and hurriedly looked for the safe, refusing to leave without what she came for. But then the door opened, and Coulson and May walked in with guns raised. When they saw her, they were confused, but they didn’t lower their guns. “Nicole?” Coulson asked. “What are you doing? What do you want?” It was then that he saw her reaching for the safe. “Agent Dace! Get away from that safe, turn around, and put your hands in the air.” Nikki hesitated for a moment, but then got up, and put her hands in the air, with a guilty expression on her face as though she had just stolen a cookie from the cookie jar. Slightly jokingly, and a lot less serious that she should have, been, she asked, “Now… about this… ‘situation’ that I don’t like… Exactly how hard am I screwed?” But she didn’t get an answer, as Agent May immediately iced her._

 _When she woke up, she was locked in a containment module, Coulson standing beside her, with his hand on his gun._  
_“Now, Nicole. You’re going to sit up straight and tell us exactly why the hell you were in my office. What were you looking for?”_  
_Nikki sat up and looked at him. She laughed._  
_“THAT is what you’re worried about? Phil, I thought you ran a tight ship. Haven’t you noticed that some people are missing?”_  
_Agent May took a step forward. “What are you talking about? Where are Fitz and Simmons?”_  
_But Nikki just sat back, awfully calm for the situation. “Just give me the staff and let me go, and I’ll make sure that they’ll return to you safely? Doesn’t that sound like a good deal?”_  
_“You are trying to trade their lives for a wooden staff? We trusted you! But now I’m starting to realise, that you are not who you say you are? You are not going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is going on!”_  
_Nikki sat back upright, as she looked him in the eyes carefully, trying to read his thoughts. Her smile faltered, as she realised that he wasn’t bluffing, and they were not going to let her go. She got up and folded her arms, standing in front of him daringly._  
_“They’re in the basement of my old home, in the Netherlands. That house is technically mine now, so I felt like I wouldn’t be bothered there.”_  
_Coulson looked at her dumbstruck. “That’s the other side of the world! How did you get them there?”_  
_But she didn’t elaborate. “I suggest you hurry though. I doubt Jemma will live to see the morning...”_  
_Coulson charged her, pushing her against the wall. “What are you talking about? What did you do?”_  
_But Nikki kept her face calm and smiled._  
_“Tick tock, Phil, tick tock.”_  
_He looked around at May. “Ready the quinjet, now!” And they rushed out the room._

“Can you tell us what she wanted? Because we suddenly had to lock up a valued member of the team, found you and agent Simmons locked up in a basement, with her now being in IC, and we have no idea why.” Coulson insisted. Fitz looked at Daisy and May, who were also in the room, and then back to Coulson. “It was about… our assignment from yesterday.” He said carefully. Coulson reconsidered for a moment, before he asked him to continue, of the opinion that everyone should get all the facts. “Somehow, Nikki knew about the 084. I swear, we haven’t talked about it to anyone, but she knew. And she knew exactly what it was too. She wanted to know where we left it, so that she could reclaim it. She came to our room, ICED us, and then we just woke up in that basement. I have no idea how she was even able to get us there.”          
“Okay, so, she kidnapped you. Locked you up somewhere on the other side of the world. Tortured you for information about some strange alien object. And then somehow hopped back to the base, in the middle of Coulson’s’ office, which was locked, mind you. My main question right now is, where the hell did she learn how to freaking teleport, because that’s the only explanation I can think of.” Daisy concluded.             
“Exactly. Just think about the other things she might be hiding from us.” Coulson said.      
“She also told us that she’s basically immortal, so that’s new.” Fitz told them.     
They all looked like they had many questions, but they knew they weren’t going to get any answers. Instead, Coulson asked: “What else did she say about the 084?”             
“Just that it was a weapon, and that it had been in her possession before… before, apparently, we ‘stole’ it. Have you tried questioning _her_ about it?”                
“We did, but apart from your location, she refused to tell us anything.” May answered.

Nikki was in the base, locked in a containment room. She was sitting on the bed, cross-legged, arms resting on her knees, meditating. She did that, from time to time, everyone knew that. And yet, this seemed like an awful time to do it. She seemed so calm, and like she didn’t even acknowledge what she had done. And meanwhile, the base was in chaos. Simmons was dying, with Fitz spending every moment by her side, holding her hand, and praying for her to wake up. May and Coulson were desperately trying to find out what the 084 was that caused all this, and how they could destroy it. Daisy was spending most moments in Nikki’s room, as she just couldn’t believe that the sweet little girl that had lived here for the past year had lied to them and deceived them like this. And then of course there was Leah. Distraught. Her heart broken over the betrayal of her best friend, she spent most of her time in the gym, punching all her anger into the boxing ball, until her hands were bleeding.

Fitz entered Nikki’s cell. Coulson had forbidden everyone to visit her, but he couldn’t help it. He just had to know.                
“What is this game you’re playing?”               
But Nikki didn’t respond. Nor did she in any way acknowledge that he had entered the room. She just continued to meditate, clearly trying to concentrate on something.       
Fitz tried again. “Jemma is dying! Does that mean nothing to you? You killed her, and yet, here you are, acting like this is all just a game to you!”        
This time Nikki did react. She opened her eyes, and though it went by very fast, Fitz could just see a white glow leaving her eyes. She looked down at the ground.             
“Of course I care. But in case you haven’t noticed, I’m locked up in here, there’s not much I can do.” She had said it with a kind voice, but somehow, this only enraged him more. She had closed her eyes again and continued meditating.                
“You said that you’re practically immortal.”  
Nikki opened her eyes and stood up from the bed but didn’t walk closer to him. She looked at him, curious as to where this was going. He continued. “How does that work? If you get shot or anything, does it just heal immediately?”             
Nikki tilted her head slightly to the side, unsure of what to say.  
“Well, not immediately... I can always choose not to… But it also depends where I get shot. A headshot might knock me out for a while, a couple of weeks, months even. Shoot me somewhere else and, yes, I will heal, but it’s still going to suck.”               
“Good to know.”  
Fitz grabbed his gun from behind him and shot her 3 times in the stomach. Nikki gasped for air, and collapsed, lading on all fours, and coughing up blood.                
“Hurts, doesn’t it? That is what Jemma felt, you psychopath. And she won’t just magically heal, she is going to die! And for what? You won’t even tell us why!”          
Nikki lost all strength in her arms and legs and collapsed further. She laid on the floor gasping for air and choking on her own blood. She looked up at Fitz but couldn’t say anything.          
“Why? Why did you turn on us? What do you want?” Fitz asked with tears in his eyes. “Who are you?”                 
“Please…” Nikki said with great difficulty. “It wasn’t meant to be this way. You were all going to be fine. You have to believe me.”    
Fitz pointed the gun at her again. “Why would I believe anything you say? And why would I care about how you’re feeling? You clearly didn’t care about that when you shot her!”         
But before he could fire the gun again, Coulson had entered the room.                 
“Agent Fitz, stand down!”  
For a moment, it looked like he was going to protest, but then he handed the gun to Coulson and left the room, saying, “Fine, I’m done here anyway.” Coulson glanced at Nikki. “Is it true what you said? About you healing?” Nikki gave a weak nod. “I’ll leave you to it then.” And he left her on the floor as he walked out the room.


	4. A miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons gets better, and Nikki escapes.

Two days later, she had completely healed. Coulson had come over a couple of times to ask her some questions, but she hadn’t said a single word. Instead, she had resumed her earlier activity, and meditated all day long. She didn’t eat. She didn’t sleep. She just sat there with her eyes closed, not responding to any external stimuli. It looked like she was growing weaker though, and anyone could see that she was exhausted. However, she continued, clearly still focusing on something. Yet no one knew what that was.

In the meantime, Simmons’ situation was slowly starting to look better. No one could explain it, but her wounds were healing at a fast rate. She still hadn’t woken up, but it was clear that she was going to make a full recovery.

And then, just a couple of days after everything that had happened, she finally woke up. She was still weak, but her wounds had healed, and now she just needed to rest. No one understood what had happened. An injury like that would take ages to recover from, if at all. But she soon grew tired of the hospital bed and asked if she could return to her room to get some peace and quiet.

Jemma Simmons was sitting alone in her room, on her bed, trying to grasp the things that had happened to her. It was hard to accept, especially since the bullet wounds had been healed, without even leaving as much as a scar. It made no clinical sense. But she knew that this had really happened. And the feeling kept haunting her. The feeling of how she could slowly feel her life slip away after she’d been shot. She almost died back there… Suddenly Fitz was standing in the doorway. He wanted to enter, but he hesitated. “Jemma?” She didn’t reply, but Fitz knew that he could come in. He sat down next to her. “How are you feeling?”                
“I’m fine, I think. Just very tired.”     
Fitz wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her closer.  
"I was so scared... I thought I was going to lose you... You were just sitting there, bleeding out, and there was nothing I could do. I'm so, so sorry, Jemma"  
Tears started rolling down his face. Simmons looked up at him, and moved her hand to his face, wiping away a tear. But she couldn't keep her own from coming as well.  
"It's not you fault." She said quietly. "You saved me, Fitz..."  
She closed her eyes, and closed the gap between them, kissing him deeply. Fitz pushed her down onto the bed, and ran his hand over her body, holding her in a warm embrace. The kiss broke, and she put her head on his shoulder, as he wrapped his arms around her protectively. For the first time in days, she felt completely safe, and just moments later, she was peacefully sleeping in his arms. Fitz sweetly kissed her forehead, and stroke her hair, before eventually, he too fell asleep.

In the days after, Simmons was gradually getting better, yet no one could find any explanation for her remarkable recovery. Nikki had finally stopped meditating, but was still not answering any questions, and now just spent most of the days sleeping. “I don’t understand.” Simmons said one day, as she was looking at the cameras from Nikki’s cell. “You’d think that in no way she regrets what she’s done. How can she sleep at night?”    
“How can she sleep during the day?” Fitz asked, standing beside her.  
 She looked up at him.        
“They told me you almost killed her. That you shot her three times in the stomach.”         
“She told me herself, she can’t die. I just wanted her to feel what you felt.”          
“Fitz. I’m fine now. Don’t stoop to her level. As long as she stays locked up in there, she can’t hurt us anymore.”

But she didn’t stay locked up. No one knew when it had happened. One morning, she was just gone. There were no signs of a breakout. She had just vanished from the room. The last thing that the camera’s showed was her sending fire to them, disabling them. There had also been no reports of anyone who saw her leave the base, or walk around the base, and she wasn’t seen on any other camera’s. Moreover, the staff was gone.        
“All agents. Drop whatever it is you’re doing. I want everyone to be on high alert. It is of top priority that we find her.” Coulson said to the team.          
Fitz looked at Simmons and put his arm around her protectively.  
“Do you think she’ll come back to finish the job?” He asked carefully.  
But May shook her head.    
“After we captured her, she quickly told us where to find you. She looked like she didn’t care, but I don’t think she meant for anyone to die.”                
“But she does have the staff. Who knows what she’s planning to do with that?” Simmons said worriedly.                
Coulson looked back at them.           
“That’s your job then. Figure it out.”             


	5. An old enemy returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has to interrupt their search for Nikki, as the base is raided by Hydra.

But whatever they did, they couldn’t find her. It was like she had vanished from the surface of the earth. They spent ages looking for her but had to stop when an old enemy returned.     
“Hello Coulson.”   
Wards voice spoke through the speakers, as his face was shown on the screen in Coulson’s office.  
“Ward?”  
“Is that all you’ve got to say to me, Coulson?”              
“How can this be? What do you want?”         
“Well, it looks like I found your secret base, so, what I want is very simple. Open the doors, let me in, and I’ll make this quick. I do recommend you not to fight back, we’ve got you surrounded, and I’ve got plenty of agents that are really up for a fight. Surrender your inhumans, and all alien weapons to us, and maybe we might just let you live.”                
“Maybe you might just?” Leah said angrily.  
“And who might you be?”  
“We haven’t met, but I’ve heard plenty about you, you backstabbing traitor!”     
Ward let out a little laugh.  
“She’s feisty. But Coulson, is this really all you got these days? You are so desperate that you’re recruiting children?”             
“Agent Pandargin is a more valuable member to the team than you ever where, Ward.”   
“Well, it’s not like that’s very hard, now, is it?”            
He demonstratively loaded his gun on before the camera. Leah took a step forward.         
“Now, before we do all this, why don’t you slip into something more comfortable… like a coma.”   
“You think you’re clever, don’t you?”             
“No, just better than you.”                
“You’re going to sass me to death?”               
Ward gave another laugh.                 
“If this is your ‘army’ Coulson, you really are in trouble. I’ll see you in a minute.”                
The screen went black, and the team was left bewildered behind.  
“He’s back…” Fitz said quietly, as he lowered himself into a chair, putting his hands in his hair. He and Simmons had had the most unpleasant experiences with Ward, and Fitz was terrified.      
“What do we do, Coulson?” May asked.        
“Suit up, defend the base. We can’t let him get away with this.”  
And they left the room, preparing for the fight.          

But it was hopeless. They were taken completely by surprise. The doors were breached, and the entire Hydra army flooded into the base. Many agents fought the best they could, but they were severely outnumbered. The team was driven back to the hangar, where they made their last stand. Coulson had given the order to take as many wounded agents as possible to the quinjets and get them to safety. The roof was open, and many of the ships had already left, though some of them were shot down again. The hangar was filled with the wreckages of these ships, still burning slightly.

The team was driven into a corner. They were still holding strong, but Hydra was everywhere, killing anyone they saw. May got shot in her shoulder and fell to the ground, exhausted.             
“We need to retreat. It’s over.” Coulson decided.        
“No, we can’t let him get away with this. We have to keep going.” May said, but everyone was too weak to go on. Leah used her powers to blind the soldiers that had fired at them, before turning herself and the team invisible, so that they could escape. That had bought them some time, but there were still too many Hydra agents, and too few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.    
After a while, she had to let go, exhausted, and Leah slid down against the wall. The had lost all her fire and spirit and couldn’t go on.  
“I’m scared.” She said quietly. “We’re going to die.”    
“No, we can’t lose hope, we might still get out of here.” Daisy said comforting, but she too knew it was hopeless.               
“I can’t fight without Nikki… we were a team, I always relied on her, I can’t do this alone.”              
“Come on, Leah, just hang in there. Nikki left us, but you’re still here. That makes you better than her. You’ve fought brilliantly, don’t give up now, okay?”    
She pulled her into a hug. 

“Come on! We have to go!” Fitz screamed, as he pulled Simmons back to her feet. Daisy did the same with Leah.              
“We’re going to beat them, okay?”

But before they knew it, Ward was walking up to them, escorted by a group of heavily armed soldiers. They were cornered and had nowhere to go.                
“It’s over Coulson.”


	6. The army of the fire people

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hydra is defeated by an unlikely ally, but the team is left with more questions than ever before.

The fight was lost. Hydra was just too powerful. Everyone was exhausted, and severely wounded. They could not go on. Ward walked forwards and pointed his gun at them. “Sorry that it had to end this way. Though we all knew that in the end, one of us had to lose. Is there anything else you’d like to say?” Coulson looked at him, his eyes filled with hate, but he kept silent, refusing to play his game. Even Leah lost all her sass, and just closed her eyes, crying, and preparing for the bullet. “Alright then, have it your way.” Ward said. “Kill them.” He then said to his soldiers. But before they could fire, another fire appeared between the Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, circling around and forming some sort of portal. Through it, walked the last person they had ever expected to see again: Nikki. But she looked different. Her hair was wavy, and two braids that originated from the sides of her head, met in the middle, on top of her other hair. She was wearing armour of some kind, gleaming red and orange, like a burning fire, and with fiery red phoenix on it. It had a little chainmail skirt on the bottom, with some orange feathers rather than fabric, and black boots. Diagonally across her body, a couple of knives were strapped to a belt, the blades black, and the hilts beautifully decorated. To her side, the staff was strapped to another belt, the symbols glowing red. “Nicole…?” Coulson asked, confused. But she ignored him and addressed Ward directly.  
“You are really starting to annoy me.” She said. “But I am going to give you one more chance to take your things and leave. I advise you to take it.”        
Ward let out a little laugh, but he was clearly surprised, and unsure of what to do. So were the soldiers, who now slowly lowered their weapons.        
“Who are you then? Another child that Coulson recruited? Are you really their last line of defence?” Ward asked mockingly. “What are you going to do?”             
He pointed his gun at her. But Nikki didn’t look scared or angry, just annoyed.     
“Ward, you absolute piece of shit. You are the biggest turd dump to ever be put in a toilet boil that I’ve ever had the displeasure of both seeing and smelling, and I just want to flush you! I just want to flush you, and your tentacle-like turdiness, down the bowl, into the sewer system, where you’re flushed into a water treatment plant, and then converted into clean water that I can drink and show my dominance over!”                
Ward laughed. “Woah, I think that’s the most creative insult I’ve ever heard. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to do better than just insult me. Especially since you’re all alone.”            
A small smile formed on her face.    
“Whatever made you think that I’m alone?”                 
Suddenly, a couple of more portals opened, and out came multiple other woman, all dressed in a similar kind of armour that Nikki was wearing, and holding swords, axes, bows, and other weapons. And yet they all looked different. Some looked human, other Kree or Asgardian, and there were also a couple of alien species that the team did not recognise. Up in the sky, more portals opened, and from them, a flock of phoenixes flew down, their beautiful feathers practically glowing. They landed next to Nikki, between the Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the largest landing right next to her. They screeched, and a few of the soldiers put down their guns and got to their knees, panicked. Nikki spoke up again, calmly, but in a strange language no one could understand. As she gestured to Ward, who was now slowly stepping back. _“Di’jun kai, hij kili!”_ She then gestured to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team and said _“Ak’ki! Ai Kirakai!”_ They looked on in shock. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Daisy stammered, but Nikki had already turned back around and grabbed the staff. The symbols started to grow brighter, before two blades slid out from the ends. They were pitch-black, but beautifully decorated. Then she, and all other woman jumped forwards. The Hydra soldiers kept fighting, shooting around wildly at the new opponents, but it was useless. In the middle of it all, Nikki was jumping around, crossing of enemy after enemy. The entire sword was longer than she was, but she wielded it around with ease. Occasionally, she would grab the hilt in the middle, and pull it apart, leaving herself with two longswords in both hands. Everywhere was fire, as the army casually breathed it around.

The entire battle didn’t take all that long. In a couple of minutes, the last Hydra soldiers were either dead, or defeated. The warriors surrounded the last surrendered soldiers, waiting for further instructions, as Ward was held separately, and was being tied down. Nikki walked over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, her sword retreated into the staff again. “Are you all right?” She offered her hand, but no one took it. “We’re fine.” Agent May said quietly. “But Daisy isn’t.” She was lying motionless on the floor, bleeding heavily, as she had been shot multiple times in the crossfire. Simmons moved over to her, and checked her pulse, before she let out a gasp and covered her face with her hands. “She’s gone…” She cried. She held her hand, crying. Nikki walked up to them and knelt beside her. She gently put her hand on Daisy’s injuries, examining her. “Get away from her.” Simmons said to Nikki, but she didn’t let go of Daisy’s hand, and clearly did not have the strength to get up. With her free hand, Nikki gently disconnected Simmons’ hand from Daisy’s before pushing her back slightly. “You might wanna step back a bit for this.” She said. But before Simmons could protest, Nikki had formed a flame in her hand, burning brighter and hotter than anything they had seen her conjure before. The heat was too much for anyone to bear, so they couldn’t get any closer to Nikki to stop her.  
“NOOOOOO!”  
“Don’t you dare. Get away from her!”            
“Please, don’t!”    
But Nikki didn’t direct the fire at Daisy. Instead, she enclosed it with her other hand catching the fire between them. It got brighter, until it wasn’t even fire anymore, but just a glowing white light. She then put one hand on Daisy’s forehead, and the other on her chest, before she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled softly. She didn’t exhale air though, she exhaled fire. Fire that latched itself onto Daisy, and spiralled around her, completely engulfing her in flames. No one could see what was happening, as the light was too bright to look at, and their screaming and pleading was drowned out by the roaring flames. But then the fire suddenly changed direction, as it found its way to Daisy’s mouth, and went inside. Then, the light was gone, and the room was quiet, as Daisy lied on the ground, gasping for air, and all her wounds were gone. Nikki opened her eyes again, and gently pulled her upright, as she started coughing heavily. She then lost all her strength again, and Nikki gently returned her to the ground. She was passed out, but clearly breathing. Alive.


	7. The queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally meets Nikki's family.

“Don’t worry, she’s gonna be just fine.” Nikki said kindly, as she stood up again. But no one responded. They just looked up at her, shocked. “Sorry it took so long, but you must understand that I first wanted to make sure that you couldn’t handle it on your own, before bringing in the big guns.”         
“What are you?” Fitz asked.              
But Nikki brushed him off by saying. “Later. Not here, not now. Come on, follow me. And don’t worry, they’ll take care of Daisy.” She gestured to some of the warriors, and quickly spoke a few words in another language before they walked up to them. They gave a small bow, which Nikki returned with a short nod of her head, before she turned around and walked away. The team hesitantly followed. She stopped just in front of where the largest bird was now standing, looking out over the team. It towered out over them, being at least twice as tall as any human. “Get. Down.” Nikki hissed to them. Leah looked at her in surprise. “Excuse me?” Nikki looked her in the eyes, and it was clear that she was dead serious. “Kneel. That’s the queen.” Simmons shot a quick look at the bird, before she, and the team did as they were told. Nikki however, didn’t kneel. The bird caught fire, and when the fire had disappeared, a woman was standing in its place. She was beautiful, with long flowing hair, and wearing a long fiery red, feathered dress. On her head was a beautiful crown. Nikki walked over to the queen, before bowing her head down respectfully. She then threw all her grace away, and ran over to the woman, wrapping her arms around her, and pulling her into a hug. The queen returned the hug, though a little more gracefully, before softly kissing the top of her head. “Melorae…” She said softly. But that was all they said. Nikki took a step back, as they both held up their left arm, and took each other’s hand. A white glow came from it, as their eyes lit up as well. They stood like that for a while, in silence, before the light faded away, and they let go. The queen now turned towards the team, that was still kneeling, unsure of what to do.                
“You may rise.” She then said. “Melorae tells me that she owes you many things, and a friend of hers, is a friend of mine” She gave a kind and gentle smile.     
The team got up, surprised. She spoke English? And when did Nikki tell her that?               
“Apparently, she has made a couple of mistakes. You must forgive her for that. My daughter is still young, and impulsive, and has a lot to learn.” Nikki lowered her head, as she hid her face in her hand, as she slowly turned red. But the queen continued.                
“However, apart from that, you have taken loving care of her, and for that, I am grateful, and clearly in your debt. Who among you is the leader?”    
No one moved, until Nikki looked Coulson in the eyes, and nodded her head to the side quickly. He stepped forwards and stopped right in front of the queen and the princess.         
“If you would please present me with your left hand.” She held out her own as well. He shot a quick look at Nikki, who nodded, almost imperceptibly. The same happened as before, a white glow coming from their hands, and their eyes lighting up. This time, it was a lot quicker, and the connection was broken before anyone could have guessed what was happening.          
The queen spoke again. “If you or your people are ever in need of aid, my army will be at your disposal.” She gestured at Ward, who was now completely tied up, with nowhere to go. “Please accept this gift as well. Now, if you would excuse me, and leave me to talk with my daughter.” Coulson gave a small bow and walked back. Nikki and her mother were facing each other again. Nikki let out a small cry, as a tear rolled down her face.      
“I am going to miss you, mother.” She said softly, before her mother hugged her again. “I wish I could come with you.”  
“I know, Melorae, but you have to wait just a while longer. I will be awaiting your return.” She kissed her forehead and put her hands on her shoulders. “Stay strong, my daughter. I am so proud of you.” Nikki took a step back, as the queen transformed back into a bird, and flew up. All other warriors did the same and followed her. She spewed fire from her beak, which formed another portal. And then, they were all gone.

Nikki’s armour caught fire, changing her clothes. After that, she was just standing there, like the Nikki that they knew before. Normal, human clothes, her hair loose, and a little messy, and a young, playful look on her face.                
“Ommygosh!! My mom made you her Kirakai! Do you have any idea what an honour that is?” she excitedly screamed. Coulson looked surprised. “She did what? What the hell just happened? Who were those people?” Nikki opened her mouth, as though she was going to explain, but she hesitated, and closed it again. She looked at Ward. “Not here, not now. First things first, what do you want to do with him?”


	8. Melorae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikki reveals her real identity.

A while later, Ward was locked up, Daisy had recovered mostly, though she was still weak, and the team was sitting in Coulson’s office. They were all standing around the table, with Nikki on her own on the other end. Nikki climbed on top of the table, and sat down cross-legged, like she had always done before, and nothing had changed. Of course, everything had changed.                
“Explain.” Coulson said shortly.        
Nikki put her hand in her hair, also in the same cute, unique way that she had always done.            
“Where to start…” She said quietly. Do you want the short or the long version?”                
“Why don’t you just start with your name?”                 
“Again. Short or long version?”         
Daisy looked confused. “Wait, your freaking name has a short and long version?”              
“I’m a royal, it’s all formalities.”        
She fell silent for a while, before saying “My real, and full name is Lady Melorae I’aiki, princess of Asgard, Flame of the New World and heir to the throne of Aarkaa’aaria, daughter to her majesty Niuwa I’aiki of Aarkaa’aaria, Fire of Unity, Keeper of the Embers of Burning Mount Kir’aii, and Protector of the Fire Nation. But you can just call me Melorae. Or Nikki, whichever you prefer.”           
Daisy looked dumbstruck. “Woah, that is a mouthful.”              
Everyone fell silent, still intensely staring at the alien princess in their midst. Melorae sighed and continued.             
“Fine. I’ll tell you my story, but I have a couple of conditions.”  
“You have no right to set conditions after what you did.”          
“But I will. And if you don’t like it, I will just create a portal and leave this place. You will never find me, and you will never know. Moreover, my mother probably won’t come to rescue you again the next time you’re in trouble. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I kept an eye on you all this time? And how much I risked with this little rescue mission? Not to mention that I saved Daisy’s life, by literally giving her some of my own! You know, that also took quite a toll on me, I feel like I’ll now live a couple of hundred years shorter!” She fell silent for a moment. “Then again, if you live for tens of thousands of years, I suppose I can miss ‘em…” She took a deep breath, and a moment of silence to calm down.                 
“Condition one: You will not speak about this to anyone. There is a reason I kept this a secret, and that reason goes a lot further than just a couple of people getting hurt. You have no idea what you’re messing with. If any of you ever tells anyone about this, you can be sure that I will know of it. From there you can do whatever you want, but I will find you, and I will kill you. Along with anyone you may or may not have told. Am I making myself very clear?”             
A few people nodded, until Simmons suddenly spoke up.          
“No. You may have glossed over it just now, but you shot me!” She took a moment of silence before adding “Twice!” She took a step forward. “You tortured me and Fitz to get that weapon, how do you expect us to trust you? Especially if you’re going to threaten to kill us again!”      
Melorae put both hands in her hair and lowered her head to think. “I am truly sorry about that. Aarkaa’aarians are war-creatures by nature. I guess I might have been carried away a little when Amari got into play… If it helps, the sword’s name is Amari’Il Kanqua’ta. That means Protector of Innocents. It’s not evil.”                
“Yeah, but you are!” Fitz said angrily, stepping forwards too.    
Melorae pushed herself back over the table, so that she slid out of his reach before Coulson could hold him back.               
“Agent Fitz. Stand down. We don’t have all the facts yet, and this might be our only chance to get them. Melorae has thus far made no move to hurt us. Leave her be. For now.”               
Melorae looked down at the table, but then Leah spoke up.     
“No. I agree with Fitz. We can’t trust her. She lied to us this entire time. Nikki, I loved you. How could you do this to us? Did you ever even care for us? For me?”              
Melorae didn’t dare to look her in the eye, but just kept staring at the table.       
“Of course I care, why d’you think I came back? Leah, you really were my best friend, and you mean the world to me. And I hope that we can be that again, provided that I didn’t completely ruin that… I may have lied to you about who I really am, but during my time here, everything I told you was true. You mean the world to me Leah, you all do.”    
This seemed to silence everyone. For now. So she continued.   
“Second condition. Please don’t interrupt me. It’s a long and complicated story, and not something I like talking about. So please… just let me talk, and don’t press me into telling you more then I’m comfortable with… And listen closely, because I’m not going to repeat myself.” And then she started.

“First, I suppose I should tell you some things about Aarkaa’aaria. It’s a very special planet, with very special people, see?” She stopped for a moment and rolled her eyes. “Maybe not the best phrasing…” But she just shook her head and continued. “Anyway, there are some things I should clarify for any of this to make sense to you. First, we may look like phoenixes, but we’re not really. The last ones died generations ago, we’re just their descendants. Second, we can get tens of thousands of years old, so ‘generations’ is a broad term. And we are among the most ancient species in the universe. Because of this, our biology is very different than yours… It would take a while to explain all differences, but the most important thing right now, is that we’re exclusively female.”

She took a moment of silence. She was speaking very slowly and clearly, to make sure that everyone understood, and had time to process what she was saying. Then she continued.

“That is just the way things are, but it does create a problem… To… reproduce, we need to ‘mate’ with other species, and that’s where the different races of Aarkaa’aarians come from. Myself, I am Asgard-born, meaning that I’m Aarkaa’aarian with an Asgardian father. Are you with me so far?”

Everyone nodded, but they were confused as to where this was going, and how this mattered to the story.

“Now, that alone wouldn’t be such a problem, since it created a lot of genetic diversity. But after a couple of generations, it did cause the phoenix-bloodlines to dilute. Aarkaa’aaria is a volcanic planet. One of the most desolate and dangerous places in the known universe. These days, only a full-grown Aarkaa’aarian can stand on its surface and live to tell the tale. Note that I said ‘full-grown’, meaning that Aarkaa’aarian children also can’t survive there. That’s why they always grow up with their father, on their father’s planet, until they come of age and move back to Aarkaa’aaria to live out the rest of their lives.”

She took another moment of silence to make sure that everyone was still following her. Many of them looked like they had so much to ask her, but they kept quiet, like they had promised.

“Now, that was the Aarkaa’aarian biology you needed to know, now let me tell you something about Aarkaa’aarian history and politics. Always fun right?” She said while rolling her eyes. “Tens of thousands of years ago, my grandmother was still on the throne of Aarkaa’aaria. Until then, Aarkaa’aarians had been creatures of war, always looking to conquer other civilisations. My grandmother loved it. And since we are among the most powerful races out there, it was easy, as the army just obliterated everything in its path… And that was how it had been going for hundreds of thousands of years… Until one day, my grandmother went too far…”

 _Thousands of years ago…_  
_“Frièro! The Kree are growing stronger every day! Our numbers are falling!”_  
_A royal servant had entered the throne room, to seek council with the queen. The Frièro, or Fire, carried the fire of the planet within her, and wielded an enormous amount of power. And that power had been with the I’aiki bloodline for a long time…_

_A very long time ago, the first I’aiki to ascend the throne had sworn to conquer the universe. The mighty people of Aarkaa’aaria were supposed to dominate all other lifeforms, for that was their right, and duty. And the current Frièro upheld that promise, being at war with not only the Kree, but 13 other planets as well…_

_The Frièro looked down upon the servant._  
_“How do you mean, ‘Our numbers are falling’? Surely those brute Kree could not defeat Us, the Great and Powerful Nation of Fire?”_  
_The servant approached and knelt before her._  
_“Frièro, they… they… they have united! Joined their armies! We are severely outnumbered, we need to regroup!”_  
_“Nonsense! They will learn their place. We shall not bow down to those inferior species! Now leave me. I need to prepare for battle.”_  
_The servant nodded, got up, and left the room. The Frièro turned around to leave as well, until another young woman approached, who had apparently overheard the conversation._  
_“Are you sure that is the right move?”_  
_The Frièro looked down upon her, clearly disturbed by the question._  
_“Are you saying we should just give up? We will not yield! They cannot defeat us! No one will ever defeat us! You disappoint me, Niuwa.”_  
_But the princess stood her ground._  
_“Yes, mother, you are right. No ONE could every defeat us. But they are not fighting separately anymore. They have united against us! Please… let the army return to Aarkaa’aaria, where it is safe. Stop this madness. Stop this unnecessary bloodshed. I am sure they will accept our offer for peace if-”_  
_“Enough! I cannot believe that you will wield the Fire once I am gone. You are clearly not worthy to pursue our ultimate meaning in this universe. I am the Fire of conquest. What kind of Fire will you become? The Fire of cowardice? You might be the Frièri, but you will never be a Frièro! Now come along, we have a battle to win.”_  
_She left the room, and Niuwa hesitantly followed._


	9. The Last Great Intergalactical War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of the Last Great Intergalactical War.

“It’s funny…” Melorae continued. Our army had always been small, but that didn’t matter much, as we had among the fiercest warriors known to mankind. Yet, strangely enough,” She said sarcastically “from a certain point it doesn’t matter how strong your people are, because if you’re outnumbered a thousand to one, you’re still gonna lose.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, we would all have died, if it wasn’t for the fact that at the last moment, my mother stepped in…”  

_The battle was lost. Frièri Niuwa looked around and saw bloodshed everywhere. Aarkaa’aarians dying in a useless war. No… this wasn’t war… this was a massacre. She held her bow in her hand and shot an arrow at someone who was closing in on her. He fell to the ground, dead. Niuwa felt her heart drop and couldn’t help but feel regret. She didn’t even know from what planet he was at this point, as they were just fighting one massive army now._

_She looked around and saw her mother. A giant flaming phoenix, who was flying over, and unleashing a rain of fire on the opposing troops. They were screams, then silence, then more screams, as they were all burned alive. Everywhere was blood. But it didn’t make any difference. For every soldier killed, there were at least a thousand still alive. And the Aarkaa’aarian warriors were being slaughtered by the hundreds. One of the people who her mother had just burned, was still alive, and flailing around blindly, clearly in a lot of pain. She looked up at Niuwa and said something that she would never forget._  
_“The blood of my people is on your hands.”_  
_Niuwa gasped, and shot an arrow through her head, killing her, and ending her suffering, before turning back to the battle, and walking over the sea of corpses of her people._

_And then, the worst thing that could have happened, happened. Niuwa could see the leader of the Girako (A humanoid species, with bright purple skin, and four arms), arming a giant ballista, tipped with a deadly poison that could kill an Aarkaa’aarian, without giving it a chance for rebirth. Niuwa tried to warn her mother, but her voice was drowned out by the noise of the raging battle around them. She transformed into a phoenix, and flew up to her, to try and get her mother out of the way, but she was too late. The arrow was fired, and the giant bird fell down to the ground, before changing back into a humanoid form._

_Niuwa rushed down after her, before transforming back too, and bending over her mother, crying._  
_“Mother!”_  
_Her mother grabbed her wrist firmly and looked her in the eye one more time. With a weak voice she said:_  
_“You are the Frièro now. Fulfil your purpose and do our ancestors proud. The universe will be ours!”_  
_Niuwa could feel the flame inside her ignite into a raging fire, the power flowing through her veins, and she knew that her mother was dead._

 _She turned around to see the leader of the Girako, who had shot the arrow, approaching her._  
_“Time for you to die, little Flame.” He said with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes._  
_Niuwa got up and formed a flame in her hand. It was now burning brighter and hotter than anything she’d been able to conjure before. She took a deep breath and fuelled the fire with the hate she felt for the man who had killed her mother. With a strong, and determined voice, she spoke._  
_“I am not the Frièri anymore. I now carry the fire of Aarkaa’aaria. I am Lady Niuwa I’aiki of Aarkaa’aaria, Fire of the New World, Keeper of the Embers of Burning Mount Kir’aii, and Protector of the Fire Nation. I am the queen, and you will suffer for what you did to my mother!”_  
_She held up the fire, knowing that it would easily be able to kill this man. But he didn’t flinch and pointed his sword at her._  
_“I have to disappoint you, but your mother tried that already. And look where it got her. Tell me, your majesty: Are you ready to die, like your bitch mother?”_  
_Niuwa was still holding on to the flame, but she hesitated, the man’s words cutting into her like a knife. She looked down at her mother, and made a decision that would change the universe forever…_  
_She extinguished the flame, and slowly got to her knees. The man was still holding the sword to her neck, ready to decapitate her, but she didn’t resist._  
_“Please… accept my surrender. One more life will barely matter. But spare my people and allow them to return home… that will be my first and final request as Frièro.”_  
_The man hesitated for a moment, until a grin formed onto his face._  
_“That I would live to see an Aarkaa’aarian without a spine…” He laughed. “This really made my day. I haven not enjoyed myself like this for a long time, and for that, I will agree to your terms.” He looked at his soldiers. “Take her away, lock her in the most horrible, and deepest dungeon that we have. Victory is ours!”_  
_And as Niuwa was taken away, even though she knew that her fate would be more horrible than she could imagine, she couldn’t help but give a little half-hearted smile. The Great Intergalactical War was finally over…_


	10. The lost princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikki tells about everything that happened, that made her end up here on earth.

Melorae fell silent, and the team looked at her, confused. Sure, this was an incredible story, but they couldn’t see why this all mattered. This was her mother’s story, not hers. But she saw the way they were looking at her and continued.

“You might be wondering now why this all matters, right? I’ll get there in a minute. Short version: my mother was captured and tortured for a long time, while Aarkaa’aaria was in anarchy. But my mother stayed strong, and eventually, she was brought in to see the leaders of all civilisations that had fought in the Last Great Intergalactical War, to discuss the terms of her surrender. My mother kept her promise, and vowed to stop the old, aggressive ways of our people. A new era would begin, of peace, and unity. That is how my mother became the Fire of Unity. And finally, after many, many years, she was allowed to return home, and claim the throne. Naturally, many of the Aarkaa’aarian people were outraged that we, ‘the powerful nation of Aarkaa’aaria’ just surrendered like that, and my mother broke the promise of our ancestors, and some of them still are. Several times, groups of rebels tried to overthrow the crown since then, but my mother stood her ground. Which, trust me, is a good thing, because prisoners of war who got brutally tortured every day, just for fun, were not uncommon.” She sighed. “However, just because we swore off our ambitions to conquer the universe, doesn’t mean that we scrapped the army. And to this day, we still have among the most powerful ones out there. Because of that, occasionally, the leader of another civilisation will seek audience with my mother to request military support when they’re at war. And _this_ is why all this matters. For me at least…”

She took another deep breath, put up a little, cute smile, and started the story as though it was a fairy tale.

“Once upon a time, King Odin of Asgard was at war with the Ice-giants, and they were losing. Desperate, he asked my mother for military support. I’ll save you the story of the negotiations and politics, and skip to the end, because they struck a deal. My mother would help them win the war, if King Odin would give her an heir. And, well, there’s not much else to say about what happened next. The Aarkaa’aarians swept in, defeated the Ice-giants, and shortly after, a baby girl was born on Asgard… Me. Yeah… that’s right. My birth was the result of a political arrangement… how romantic.” She rolled her eyes and continued. “For the next… 234 years, there’s not much to tell… I lived on Asgard, as a princess, running around with my brothers, Thor, and Loki. Everything was great. Until…”

 _104 years ago…_  
_Melorae was standing in the Asgardian palace. She was just a small kid. In human years, she was about 12 years of age. She was wearing a beautiful dress, and a little tiara, and was happily playing with a ball in the great hall. She didn’t know of what was currently taking place in the throne room…_

_King Odin was pacing through the room, worrying. The princess was growing more powerful every day. He could see the power that she held, just in the palm of her hand. The power, inherited by her mother… Her mother: The Fire of Aarkaa’aaria. The ruler of the most powerful people in the universe. The ones that had almost destroyed the entire galaxy, and could obliterate planets in a matter of hours…_

_They were useful allies and helped them win the war with the Ice-giants, but king Odin was still troubled about the deal he made with the Frièro. Why did she insist that he would give her an heir? Odin thought about the Aarkaa’aarian princess. And now that girl was here. Not only powerful, but with a legitimate claim to the throne…_

_Was that it? The Frièro swore off their conquering nature, and stopped the wars, but what if she was just trying to take over in another way? By having her own heir claim the throne of Asgard? Asgard would fall. Asgard would be in the hands of those… those monsters._  
_But he was jerked out of his thoughts when someone suddenly entered the room. It was the general of the army._  
_“You had called for me, sir?”_  
_“Yes. See, the princess is a growing problem. I need this problem to ‘disappear’.”_  
_The general hesitated for a moment._  
_“And how would you expect me to do such a thing?”_  
_“I don’t know. I don’t care. Just get her out of the way. Send the army after her. I have tried to take her out myself, but someone keeps thwarting my plans. If the army is on my side, she will have nowhere to run.”_  
_Again, the general hesitated._  
_“Sir, you know that I would never question a direct order. If you believe the princess to be dangerous, I will do as I am told, but to send the entire army after her… She is a child. A princess. Your daughter... I do not see how I will be able to convince them to follow this order.”_  
_“She is not my daughter. She is the daughter of that war-queen. And if they will not see her for the monster she is, then we will show them. Rouse up the people. Commit a crime so big, that no one will be able to ignore it. Then I will hold her responsible. She will have nowhere to run, and the problem will soon solve itself.”_  
_“Do you not think that this is a bit drastic?”_  
_“It is a necessary evil, to ensure the safety of Asgard. Now get it done!”_

Melorae let out a little sob, and covered her face with her hands, as she sat there for a while, crying. After a couple of minutes, she continued again, choking on her tears. The horror of what she had gone through was clearly visible on her face, and in her voice.

 _A couple of days later…_  
_Asgard was in panic. Multiple families had been brutally slaughtered, and their homes burnt to ashes. Melorae was dragged forward and brought to her knees before the king._  
_“Princess Melorae I’aiki. You have been found guilty of the murder of two dozen people. What do you have to say for yourself?”_  
_She looked up at the king, tears in her eyes._  
_“No! I didn’t do it! I swear! I was here in the palace all day, you have to believe me!”_  
_“You are a disgrace. And clearly, no daughter of mine. How could you? I raised you with like my own, from the day you were born. But I should have never let you in my home, you are a monster.”_  
_“Please… It wasn’t me, I swear. I would never do something like that…”_  
_“Enough! Their houses were burned to cinders. Who else on this planet holds that kind of power? You left your mark all over it. And your constant denial only proves to me that you do not even regret your actions. That you do not regret murdering all those poor, innocent people. You are soulless. I, king Odin, hereby sentence you to death. Take her away! I want to have her executed before the end of today.”_  
_And before Melorae could protest, she was dragged away again, and dumped into a cell in the deepest dungeon._

The room fell silent. For as far as they knew, the king of Asgard had always been a kind and just ruler. This seemed way out of character for him. Then again, there’s only two things that could possibly get a man to do something like this. Love… and _fear_.

 _A couple of hours later, Melorae heard footsteps approaching her cell. She was sitting in the corner, crying, and deathly afraid. She was scared and confused. She hadn’t done anything wrong, right?_  
_The footsteps got closer, and in the light of the torches that were mounted on the walls, she could see Thor and Loki._  
_“Thor? Loki?” Melorae exclaimed, surprised. But Loki shushed her._  
_“Quiet. They don’t know we’re here.”_  
_Thor opened the door and extended a hand._  
_“Come on, sis, let’s get out of here. We won’t stand idly by while this kind of injustice is done to you.”_  
_Melorae got up, but hesitated._  
_“You heard father… I’m a monster…” She let out a small cry._  
_Loki stepped forward, and grabbed her by her shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly._  
_“You are not a monster. We don’t believe that you could ever do anything like that. We know you. You are a sweet, and kind girl, and you would make an amazing Frièro one day. This is not how it ends for you. We’ve stopped all his other attempts to cross you off, we’re not going to stop now.”_  
_She took a deep breath, and nodded, before looking back at Thor._  
_“We managed to convince Heimdall of your innocence. He had agreed to open up the Bifrost for you, so that you can escape, but we need to go, now!”_  
_“Where will the Bifrost take me?”_  
_“A place called Midgard, though the inhabitants call it Earth. It hasn’t yet had much contact with alien life, so you have to be careful, and you can’t use your powers. But father won’t look for you there, nor will anyone else who might be able to recognise you. You will be able to live there in peace, until you are old enough to return to Aarkaa’aaria. Now let’s go, before they notice that you’re gone.”_

“Loki provided a distraction, while Thor managed to get me to the Bifrost. And that was the last time I saw them. Of course, the Asgardian army was still looking for me, until Heimdall convinced them that he couldn’t see me anymore, and was probably dead… That is why you need to keep this a secret, because if my father finds out that I’m alive, he’ll come for me. To find and kill me. And he’ll destroy earth in doing so…” Another moment of silence. “And Earth won’t be the only planet to burn. The only reason my mother didn’t kill everyone on Asgard is because I begged her not to. To just leave things the way they are, for now. But if Odin kills me…”

She didn’t continue after that. She wiped away her remaining tears and returned herself to a state of rest. Instead of looking down at the table, like she had been the entire time, she now looked directly at the team.

“So. That’s how I ended up here, 104 years ago. And I’ve been living here ever since. An exiled princess living on a strange planet under a false name, with a father who wants her dead, and another 82 years until she can return to her mother. That about sums it up. Now if you’ll please excuse me, I need some air.”


	11. Lifting the mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikki explains more about her planet and her race.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. This chapter will have a lot of monolog, and backstory, and is mostly just to explain a couple of things. I have created an entire world, and just wanted to bring it to life a bit more.

There was a tap on the window. Melorae looked up. She was sitting on the bed in a containment module, and Coulson was standing by the window. “Good afternoon princess.”  
“Please don’t. Besides, I’m not really a princess anymore, so you’d at least have to call me Frièri, or flame. But you don’t have to. We’re friends, right? Just call me Nikki. Or at least Melorae.”          
“Friends? You kidnapped and tortured my agents! Agent Simmons almost died!”              
“Come on. I apologised for that. At length. And I saved all your lives, ánd I told you my entire story, which is NOT something to take lightly.”    
“Didn’t you hear me? Simmons almost died because of you! We are all very lucky that she miraculously survived. Of course we can’t trust you.”         
Melorae sat up a little straighter.     
“With all due respect… that wasn’t luck. Do you really think that I was just going to let her die?”     
Coulson fell silent, confused. “What do you mean?”    
Melorae sat back again, lying down on her bed, and continued to talk while staring at the ceiling. “It was never my intention to kill her, I just somehow had to convince Leopold that I would. Yes, what I did was wrong, and disgusting, and sadistic, and horrible… and I’m sorry, but… I had a plan. After I got Amari back, I would return there, use my powers to heal her, and then drop them off back here, unharmed. I’m not evil, or at least I don’t think I am. I am just very impulsive. And when you come from a race that’s bred for war, things can get out of hand sometimes…” She sat up again.               
Coulson looked dumbstruck. “Was that why you kept meditating all the time? To heal her?”           
Melorae nodded. “She’s like a sister to me. Like I said: I was never going to let her die.”    
But then she changed the topic by saying. “I suppose you came here for a reason. What do you want?” And Coulson knew that she wasn’t going to continue the subject. This might be his only chance to get some honesty out of her. “Just to ask you another couple of questions. You left the entire team in quite a shock, you know?” “Fine, ask away, but I won’t promise that I’ll answer everything.”

“Okay, first, you said that you’re 338 years old. How is that possible? You were raised by your human parents since you were a baby. And your sister confirmed that.” Melorae pulled up her shoulders. “How do you think? Reincarnation. I’m a phoenix remember? That’s a thing we do. What I told Leopold a while back may have stretched the truth a little. Yes, until a certain point I can heal any injury. But if the damage is too great, it won’t knock me out for a couple of months, like I told him. I would die, and then be reborn as a baby. There are of course a couple of ways to kill an Aarkaa’aarian without activating this process, and we can only do it three times anyway… And of course, I can always choose not to heal.”           
“But what happened then? How did you end up with the Dace family? Does this mean you died?”                  
Melorae nodded, before looking down at the ground and sitting there in silence for a while. “I have a longer history with S.H.I.E.L.D. than just since I met Jemma. That is how I immediately knew that I would be safe here, and I could trust you. I wasn’t an agent before, since no one wanted to recruit a 16-year-old teenager, but I knew a couple of agents. Have you ever heard of Angelica Parry?”              
Coulson looked at her, confused. “She once saved 17 agents from a sinking submarine, after it was hit by a missile.”              
Melorae nodded. “My previous identity before this one. If I were to pass as an inhuman, I had to choose one power that I could use. As Nikki, that’s pyro kinetics. As Angelica, they were portals… Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to save everyone. And as I was trying to get the last people out… I died…” She was silent for a while. “And then I was reborn. But that doesn’t change my real age. Before I died, I aged slower than any human, so I couldn’t stay in the same place for too long. But when I was reborn, my Aarkaa’aarian age stayed about the same, so my body had to, like, catch up, and I aged like a human. That’s how I was able to ‘grow up’ like this. Come to think of it, this is an excellent time to tell you all of this, because I now have nearly caught up my age, and from that point I will age a lot slower again, so you might start noticing that soon…”

Coulson thought about this for a while. “Since the fate of multiple planets is at stake here, I won’t put you on the index, but we do have to be able to trust you. So, could you tell me what other powers you possess?” Melorae sat down cross-legged and thought about this. “Well, the portal-thing, which is an I’aiki thing. Reserved for the descendants of our bloodline. The most powerful Aarkaa’aarian bloodlines all have like an extra special little trick. This is also why the I’aiki bloodline is the royal family, since my mother can make portals between planets, and can function as an ambassador. If it makes you feel more comfortable, think of my mother as the minister of foreign affairs, rather than the queen. The other heads of the main 5 bloodlines all have a unique power, and political power over a different thing: The army, my mother, portals. Food and supplies, telekinesis. Economics, the ability to sense where certain resources can be found. Wellbeing of the people, protective forcefields. And technological advances, premonition. Anyway, only the Fire can create portals between distant planets. Mine can just get me anywhere on this planet. Other powers I have… well, pyrokinesis, which makes sense, and the fact that I have an alternate, Aarkaa’aarian form.”           
“You can transform into a phoenix?”              
Melorae didn’t answer, but instead was suddenly ingulfed in flames. She disappeared, and a small firebird was now sitting on the bed, about the size of eagle. It sat there for a couple of seconds before it changed back into Nikki.     
“Of course, my alternate form isn’t as big as the ones you saw during that battle with Hydra, but I’m just a kid.”     
After that, she just continued naming things. “Well, I told you about the healing and rebirth thing. Super strength, though only in my alternate form, unfortunately… And even though most people dismiss it, since it’s not really all that useful in battle, my singing voice is actually also an Aarkaa’aarian trait. Add in the natural proficiency in most battle skills, and I think that’s about it… Oh, and you have the Kirakai’s of course.”

“What the hell is a Kirakai? You mentioned that your mother made me one, and I believe I heard you say it when all your little friends joined you. What does that mean?”            
Melorae stayed silent for a moment, carefully choosing her words. “You sure you want to know that? Because that’s a whole other can of worms, that maybe should not be opened...”              
“Just tell me.”       
Melorae sat up straight and started moving her hands around each other. As she did so, a light begun to shine, and before long, she was holding a glowing orb, that seemed more like a liquid than a solid. It was the strangest thing Coulson had ever seen, as though it had a life of its own.        
Melorae looked up at him. “This is my Aika. This is what for you would pass as a ‘soul’. Like I told you, Aarkaa’aarians are different from most life-forms in many ways. This is one of them. Our ‘soul’ is a separate entity. And we can use that to our advantage. For example, if I were to give this to you, you would literally be holding me in your hands. Every feeling, every memory, everything! Of course, that would be too much for anyone to handle, and would probably kill you, but what if I were to give you a smaller piece?”     
She moved her hands around again, and the orb got smaller, until she was holding a tiny light, about the size of a grain of sand.         
“It would create a mental link between two people. With such a small piece, unfortunately, it would only be one way though. If I gave you this, it would be too small for you to notice it, but I will be able to read your mind. Well, your base thoughts and most extreme feelings, it doesn’t go that far… If two people give each other a piece of their Aika, they could feel when the other person is in danger, and where they are. Moreover, with a simple touch, they can create a telepathically link over which they can quickly and efficiently communicate. You saw me do that with my mother. I basically just transferred the information of the English language to her, so that she could talk to you, and I gave her a quick update of the things that had happened since I met you.”               
“All that, in just the minute or so that you held her hand?”       
Melorae nodded. “And yes, we do have a verbal language, but it’s not that developed since it’s not used all that much. Words like ‘I’ ‘Me’ ‘Mine’ ‘Self’ ‘Property’ are all the same for example. Anyway, things like this are difficult to just ‘explain away’, but do you understand?” There was a moment of silence, before he slowly nodded.               
“So, your mother can read my mind now?”  
Melorae made the tiny light vanish and sat back again. “Yeah, sort of, but don’t worry about your privacy. Like I said, it doesn’t go that far. But if you’re ever in trouble, she would know how to find you. Just like how I did.”             
“Wait. I’m your Kirakai too?” Melorae nodded carelessly, like it was the most normal thing in the world.                 
“You all are, Leah, Leo, Jemma, Melinda, Daisy. Why do you think Amari lit up when you guys picked it up, but not the other agents that I don’t know? Amari may not contain a piece of my Aika, but it is linked to me. That way, only I can use it, and I can wield it with great precision, since it will always do exactly what I want it to. And you can use it too, if you learn how to, because it recognises my soul inside of you.”                 
Coulson didn’t know what to say.     
“How do you think that I knew about you having it in the first place? When Jemma touched it, I felt it. It sort of… reactivated it. Reactivated _me._ But I couldn’t find it, which is why….” She swallowed the rest of her sentence. “Yeah…”       
“And when exactly did you do this?”               
“Just one night, when you were all sleeping… I’m not proud of it, but I really do care for all of you, and this was just my way of looking out for you… Any more questions?”       
“Not for now”       
“Well I do. How long are you going to keep me locked up in here? I told you everything that was worth telling.”  
“Locked up? Yes, we might have locked the door, but can’t you just create one of those little portals of yours and escape?”             
Melorae gave a salty look. “That’s beside the point. Not that I have anywhere to go anyway…” She looked away and closed her eyes. “I really messed up, didn’t I? No one else is going to come and see me? Do they really hate me that much?”               
“We might not hate you, but for now, we also can’t trust you. I’m sorry Nicole.” He turned to walk away.                 
“You used my real name…” She said quietly, forming a smile on her face. She looked up at him. “Thanks.”                 
He left the room.


	12. Picking up the pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melorae is picked up by her brother, who confirms everything that she has told.

Melorae stayed locked up for the next couple of days. Most of the time she just sat in the corner, either singing softly or daydreaming. She hadn’t tried to escape, nor did it look like she was going to. Clearly, she was patiently waiting to be let back in, or to stay there as their prisoner. Occasionally, someone would come around to ask a couple of questions. And Melorae didn’t shy away from telling everything she knew. About her home planet, her family, or her own story. The problem was that no one seemed to fully trust her. And why would they? All they had to go on was her word, and she had been lying for a long time. For all they knew, she was still doing it.

Until one day, the answer came. The surprises hadn’t ended, and one day, Thor suddenly entered the base.       
“Thor?” Coulson had asked surprised. “What are you doing here? How did you even find this base?”                 
But he didn’t answer the questions. “I’m looking for my sister. She was supposed to be here. I need to talk to her.”           
The team hesitantly showed him to Melorae’s containment module but were still unsure as to believe that they were really siblings. Their doubts were taken away very quickly though.

Despite Coulson urging him to stay behind the glass, Thor had entered the room immediately. Melorae looked up to him. There was a moment of silence, as neither of them moved.     
“Thor?” Melorae spoke quietly.        
But he didn’t reply. Instead, he took out his hammer, and placed it somewhere between them. Melorae first looked at the hammer, and then at him, before she nodded. She walked over to it, and picked it up, before spinning it around in her hand, no effort.          
“It’s really you then?” Thor asked, clearly surprised.    
Melorae dropped the hammer carelessly, and she ran up to him, wrapping him in a big hug. Thor pulled her up with one arm, returning the hug, but shuffling through her hair with the other hand at the same time, much in a way that a brother would do a younger sibling. Melorae immediately let go, bringing her hands to her hair, and trying to repair the damage, as Thor looked on, laughing.                 
“Thor! Don’t do that! We talked about this!” She said, slightly annoyed, but it was clear that she was thrilled to see him.              
“Long time no see, sis.” He replied, as he pulled her back into a hug, a little sweeter this time, and kissed the top of her head. He then looked at her a lot more seriously.              
“Now, I’ve heard that you’ve been causing a lot of trouble. I want to help you, but you need to be honest with me. What happened?” Melorae was silent for a while, before she started rambling something in another language, probably Asgardian. Thor listened quietly, but his face showed his disappointment. After Melorae had finished speaking, he turned to look at Coulson.         
“Who was the one that got hurt?” He asked.                
Coulson gestured at Simmons, who was standing somewhere in the back, silent.                
“Please, forgive my sister for her actions.” He said. “I will make sure she will be justly punished for what she did, but I know that she has no evil intentions. If you’re unsure if you can trust her, trust me. I know Melorae, and I know that she can get rather impulsive at times, especially when the stakes are as high as they are. But she has a good heart. I will vouch for her.”       
Coulson was silent for a while, hesitant, but then he nodded. Thor continued.     
“Now. If you’ll excuse us. I’d like to have a word with my sister in private.”           
He looked back at Melorae. She nodded slowly and dropped her head sadly. She then turned around and lifted her hand to her mouth, as she exhaled. It was like she blew a kiss, as the fire passed over her hand, and then formed a circle in the middle of the room. She walked towards the portal, and stopped in front of it, waiting for her brother to join her. They stepped through the portal together, and then they were gone.


	13. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward escapes, and Nikki goes after him, to try and get the team to forgive her, one last time.

Daisy was in her room. She had barely left it for the past week. Every once in a while, someone had come in to check on her, but she needed time to process what had happened. For the second time, she had died, and was brought back by some alien medicine. She had no idea what possible side effects could be, but apart from that, it was just a very uneasy feeling to realise that she had died. All week she had felt slightly feverish, and tired. And she was hungry and thirsty all the time. She had wanted to go and visit Melorae to ask her about it, but she had felt too weak to do so, and was afraid of what she might hear. But now it was too late anyway, since Melorae had left with Thor a couple of days ago, and she hadn’t returned. She lifted her shirt slightly, to reveal the place where she had supposedly been shot. There wasn’t even a scar.

Suddenly, the alarm went off. Something was wrong. Even though she still felt slightly weak, she knew that she had to help, so she rushed out the room to check what was going on. When she arrived at Coulson’s office, the entire team was already there.    
“I saw the base is in lockdown. What is going on?” She asked.  
No one said anything, but they showed her. Wards cell was trashed, and he was nowhere to be seen.                
“He did it again. We should have just killed him.” Agent May told her.  
“Where is he now?” she asked.        
“He’s taken a few agents hostage and is demanding that we let him to the Zephyr. We don’t know how long it will take before he starts killing them.” Coulson said.     
“Then what do we do?” Daisy asked him.       
“Either we give into his demands, or we accept the fact that we might lose a couple of agents in an attempt to take him out…”               
An eerie silence fell over the room.  
“There has to be something we can do…” She stammered.       
“Actually, there is.”             
Melorae’s voice had come from the doorway. Agent May immediately took out her gun and pointed it at her.         
“Give me one reason not to shoot you.” She demanded.           
Melorae remained calm and folded her arms. She started counting on her fingers.            
“I saved all of your lives, Thor vouches for me, I think I have proven myself to not be evil, oh, and, I can solve this little ‘conundrum’ of yours.”           
She looked slightly annoyed, but her expression changed when May slowly put down her gun. She was filled with determination.  
“What do you mean? What are you going to do?”       
“I’m going to fix this.”         
She walked over to Coulson.             
“Give into his demands.” She told him.          
He looked shocked, surprised, and not like he trusted her in any way.  
“Are you insane? If he leaves, we might never catch him again!”  
Melorae formed a little smirk on her face.     
“Exactly. You might not, but I can. I can fly, remember? Let him fly away, then I’ll take him out one on one in the Zephyr. No one gets hurt. Well, except for him of course…”          
The team looked at each other, hesitating. Many of them looked like they had a lot to say to her, but they couldn’t find the words.     
“Maybe she’s right…” Simmons suddenly said.            
Fitz looked at her in surprise, before pulling her towards him, and talking to her quietly, so that no one else could hear it.                
“Are you insane? You remember what she did, right? Last time we trusted her, you nearly died! And now you’re siding with her?”  
But she brushed him off and addressed the entire group again.  
“I vote for her plan. She’s right. This way, only she has to risk her life. If you succeed, we will be rid of Ward, and maybe, just maybe, we might be able to trust you again. If you fail, at least we’ll be rid of you.”                
Melorae looked down at the ground, showing that this comment really hurt, but then she looked up again, waiting for the final decision. Coulson made eye-contact with her and said. “We’ll leave you to it then.”                 
Melorae nodded and walked over to the window, opening it.  
“Tell Ward that he can take the Zephyr. As soon as he flies away, I’ll follow close behind.”

Minutes later, the deal was struck, and Ward flew away with the ship. Just before Melorae left, Leah walked over to her.             
“In case this goes wrong, I just wanted to say… It’s good to see you, Nick.”           
She pulled her into a hug.  
“Thank you.” Melorae said, smiling, but then she transformed into a phoenix, and flew out the window, following Ward. From there, the team just had to wait. About half an hour past before they could see the Zephyr on the horizon, the small bird carrying it back with significant effort. She slowly put it back in the hangar, before turning back and lying down on the top of the ship, panting. When the team arrived to see what had happened, she was the first to speak.  
“It is done…” She said, completely out of breath. “He won’t bother you again.”  
She got up and looked down on the team. Like she same kid that she had always been, she asked, “Please tell me that I repaid my debt. I’m tired... I’d love to sleep in my old bed. Please…”              
The team exchanged a few looks, before they all nodded, some smiling kindly.    
“Welcome home, Nicole.”


	14. Nicole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the aftermath of all that has happened.

To be fair, all interaction between Nicole and the rest of the team over the next couple of days was… awkward… to say the least. Conversations would fall silent as soon as she entered a room, and she was left out of a lot of things. Most of the time, she stayed in her room, alone. She longed to be with her old friends again, but she felt like she wasn’t really wanted. In a way, this reminded her of her home situation growing up, but then again, this was her own fault. And she knew and accepted that.

But she wasn’t alone for long. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.               
“Come in.” She said, confused.         
Her confusion grew even further when the person walking into the room was Simmons. She was the last person she had expected to see. Nikki took a deep breath, and looked away, clearly expecting that she was going to at least be yelled at. But Simmons didn’t.              
“Hey.” She said carefully.    
But Nikki just pulled up her knees, still not looking at her. Simmons was trying to find her words.  
“Can I ask you something?” She said after a while, before quickly adding. “Princess Melorae.”        
Nikki now spoke, but she still didn’t look at her.           
“Please, just call me Nikki. I’m no royalty on this planet. And after what I did to you, I have no right to demand that you to bow down to me. Besides, I was never that kind of princess, I never felt like one.”  
She turned her head towards Simmons, but still avoided her gaze by looking down at the ground.                 
“What is it?”          
Simmons looked at her awkwardly.                
“Well, it’s just that after everything I’ve heard now, I can’t help but feel fascinated by your race, and your DNA, so I was thinking…-”  
Nikki looked up, surprised.                
“Wait, you want a sample of my blood?”       
“Just for scientific purposes, I promise!”        
Nikki raised an eyebrow.     
“Well… I’m an Intergalactical princess of one of the fiercest warrior races in the universe, my blood is probably one of the most powerful things on this planet right now, and I’m definitely afraid of needles, soooo…”                
Simmons looked down, disappointed, but Nikki wasn’t done yet, and finished her sentence.           
“Sure! Why not? I mean, it’s the least I could do for you. That, and, telling you everything you want to know about Amari. I’m sure you have a lot of questions about that as well, after it took over your mind a little while back. I’m sort of in your debt after, you know…”      
“Nearly killing me?”            
Yeah… that…”       
Simmons smiled kindly.      
“Sure, it’s a weird, and difficult situation, but I haven’t forgotten that you saved my life 3 times now… 4 if you count you healing me after you shot me yourself. It took me a while, but in the end, I’ve decided that I’m the one in your debt, not the other way around.”  
“Thank you, Jemma.”          
Simmons moved over to her and gave her a hug.         
“But if you ever do that again, I’ll kill you.”    
“That’s fair.” Nikki, said a little giggle.    
There was a moment of silence.  
“You don’t have to lock yourself in your room anymore. There’s a lot of people who missed you. Follow me, it’s all going to be fine, trust me.”     
And she extended her hand.           

So, Nikki followed Simmons to the living room, where the entire team was sitting. There was an awkward silence for a while, until some people moved over a bit, making more room on the couch. Nikki hesitantly sat down between Daisy and Fitz. She was afraid to look anyone in the eye, until Daisy put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.         
“It’s nice to have you back Nikki…”  
She pulled her into a hug.  After that, the rest of the team took turns to do the same, and before long, the tension was broken. Everything seemed to have mostly turned back to normal, and everyone was happily chatting about everything they had been through together. It seemed like most people had now accepted Nikki’s new identity as Melorae, and they kept asking her for details about her race and her home planet, and to show off her powers.             
It was a lovely afternoon, except for the fact that one person was missing. Leah.

That evening, Nikki finally had the courage to face her. She walked over to her room and knocked the door. For a moment, she hoped that Leah would be somewhere else, and she could return to her own room, but then, the door slowly opened. Leah opened the door, and walked back to the desk, without saying anything, or even looking Nikki in the eye.         
“Hello Leah…” Nikki begun carefully. “How’ve you been?”         
Leah picked something up from the desk and turned around. It was slightly dark in the room, so Nikki couldn’t immediately see what it was, but then she recognised it as a small ‘welcome back!’ card.  
“It’s not much…” She begun. “But I hope that you know that I’m really glad that you’re back… I’ve really missed you…”       
“I thought you hated me…”              
“Yeah… me too.”  
Leah sat down on the couch, and Nikki sat down next to her. Leah handed her the card, but Nikki immediately put it away, and pulled her into a warm hug. They sat like that for a moment, until they moved away from each other slightly, so that they were facing each other. Without even having to say anything, they both moved in closer, as they shared a warm, sweet kiss. Leah moved her arms around Nikki, and Nikki moved in closer to her, moving over to her lap, and sliding her hand over her body, their bodies being in complete contact.  

When the kiss broke, they first looked at each other, both clearly surprised. Nikki bit her lip, and sat back on the couch, hands in her hair.              
“Sorry, I don’t know what that was. I don’t know what came over me.”  
Leah looked at her and smiled.         
“Me neither.”        
She leaned back in, and pushed Nikki on her back, kissing her deeply again. Leah ran her hand over Nikki's body, as she moved her head down, and kissed her neck. Nikki trembled slightly at the tingle of her touch, as she closed her eyes, and smiled. Leah kissed her again, wrapping her arms around her in a warm embrace. And then, exhausted, they fell asleep together on that couch. Everything was exactly like it should be… And both Nicole and Melorae, were home where they belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading part my story! Please leave a comment, telling me what you thought, and if you'd like more. I already have some idea's for a part 5. I won't promise anything yet, but keep an eye out for that!


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